Snapshot of the Life of a Dork
folder
1 through F › Faculty, The
Rating:
Adult ++
Chapters:
14
Views:
5,523
Reviews:
6
Recommended:
0
Currently Reading:
0
Category:
1 through F › Faculty, The
Rating:
Adult ++
Chapters:
14
Views:
5,523
Reviews:
6
Recommended:
0
Currently Reading:
0
Disclaimer:
I do not own The Faculty, nor any of the characters from it. I do not make any money from the writing of this story.
Chapter 2
I’m already regretting it as I walk through the door and glance around. The place is dimly lit, just enough light that you can see where you’re going without tripping over any of the furniture. There’s a stage set up on one end of the large room and there’s a big dance floor. It’s currently packed, with a mass of writhing, dancing bodies. There’s a band on the stage, doing metal covers of old Eagles songs.
“Interesting place!” I shout to Zeke.
Yes, I’d forced him to come with me. Stokely and Stan said they’d meet us here.
“Come on!” Zeke shouts back. “Let’s grab a table!”
He takes my hand and we start weaving our way through the crowd, heading toward a group of tables off to one side of the dance floor. I glance around anxiously, looking for Casey.
“Do you see him?” I shout to Zeke as he leads me to a small round table.
“What?” he shouts back.
“Casey!” I yell, leaning close so he can hear me. “Do you see him?”
He smirks, nodding behind me. I turn and my stomach starts to flutter. Casey’s at the bar, ordering a soda.
He gets his soda, sticks a straw in it and then puts the straw into his mouth. I gulp as he turns around and his face lights up as he spies me.
“Oh god.” I say, reaching out to grip Zeke’s arm. “He’s headed this way.”
Zeke looks amused. “Just breathe.” he says. “He’s only a guy.”
I glare at Zeke. “Oh yeah, that’s a lot of help, Zeke. He’s only a guy that I’ve been crushing on since I was eight.”
Zeke flashes this shit-eating grin and I stare at him. Oh god, why do I feel like I’ve just said something stupid?
He nods over my shoulder. “Hey Casey.”
Oh god it’s him. I slowly turn around.
“Casey!” I say way too loudly, even over the music. “Hi!”
“Hey!” he says with similar volume.
We stare at each other for a moment as the bass from the music rattles my ribs and the ice cubes in his soda.
“This seat isn’t taken, Casey.” Zeke says as he hops off the stool beside me.
“Oh, um, thanks.” Casey says. He hovers a moment before sitting stiffly on the stool, chewing his straw. I somehow resist the urge to fidget.
Zeke winks at me and starts backing away.
“Where are you going?” I ask, sounding a little panicky.
“I’m gonna scope out the dance floor.” he says, grinning. “Have fun.”
“Zeke!” I cry as he takes off, leaving me with Casey.
I glance at him, smiling awkwardly. “Um. . .so where’s the hein. . .uh, Delilah?”
Casey shrugs and curls into himself a little, stirrins sts straw around in his soda. He mumbles something into his chest, which I obviously can’t hear over an almost unrecognizable version of Hotel California.
“What?” I holler over the music.
He looks up and takes a breath.
“Probably at home!” he shouts. “She doesn’t like this place!”
“I think it’s great!” I say, looking around. Strangely enough, the school cheerleaders are the most negative people around out of uniform.
“Yeah, me too!” he says, then blinks suddenly and goes back to gnawing on his straw. It’s getting sort of mangled.
Sigh. That’s so adorable.
There’s so much I want to ask him, so much I want to say. For some reason, I can’t seem to get my mouth to cooperate, so we just kind of sit there, staring at each other awkwardly.
Suddenly Stokely and Stan appear behind Casey. “Hey guys!” Stokely shouts, grinning.
“Stokely! Stan!!” I!” I shout back.
“What are you two doing sitting here?” Stan yells. “Why aren’t you dancing?”
“Um. . .”
Casey and I glance at each other, blushing.
“Haven’t felt like it yet!” I shout back.
Stokely grins, winking at Stan, and then grabs Casey’s hand. “C’mon!” she shouts.
He protests, but she drags him toward the dance floor anyway. Leaving me to stare at Stan dumbly.
“C’mon, Morgana!” he says, holding out his hand. “I know you’d rather dance with Casey, but I promise not to step on your toes!”
I laugh and shake my head, then take his hand. “Okay!”
I let him lead me out on the dance floor. We dance for a while, I’m trying not to shoot envious looks at Stokely and Casey. Stan notices, but doesn’t comment.
Zeke’s dancing with some girl that I don’t recognize. I’m trying to figure out who she is and suddenly I find myself staring at Casey in confusion.
It would seem that during my zoning, Stan directed us over to where Stokely and Casey were dancing and switched partners. Stokely grins at me, giving me the thumbs up, as the song suddenly changes to a milder tune, perfect for slow dancing.
Casey and I stare awkwardly at each other. We’re standing in the middle of the dance floor, looking like dorks because everyone around us is dancing and we’re just staring at each other.
He curls into himself again, mumbling something to his chest.
“Huh?” I say.
He looks up, gulping. “W-wanna dance?”
I blush, then nod. “Sure.”
His arms go around my waist tentatively and I place my hands on his shoulders. Luckily we’re about the same height. We shyly smile at each other as we move to the rhythm of the song. Over Casey’s shoulder, I catch a glimpse of Zeke. He’s grinning widely and giving me a thumbs up.
I feel like I could die happy right about now. Nothing has felt more right. Being in Casey’s arms is like being in heaven, if you believe in such a thing.
******
The next morning I wake up, all smiles. I end up pinching myself to make sure last night wasn’t a dream, that I’d really spent most of the night dancing with Casey. Yeah, okay, so we’d stepped on each other’s toes a couple of times, but it had been great.
So why do I now have a horrible feeling as I head out to meet the bus?
“Hey Morgaine!” Zeke shouts from his driveway across the street. “Want a ride?”
I grin. “Are you kidding? I’d love one!”
I race across the street, admiring his car. The poor GTO had gotten pretty banged up during the alien invasion, but he’d had it totally rebuilt. Thank god Zeke’s parents are loaded.
So why is he my adopted brother, you ask? Well, it’s quite simple. Zeke’s parents are hardly every home. I think I can count on one hand the number of times over the years I’ve seen them around.
Anyway, since we live right across the street from each other and my parents felt bad for him, they basically took him to raise. I mean, he still lives in his parents’ house, but he comes over to my place for meals and stuff. Mom worries that he isn’t getting a nutritional meal if he doesn’t.
So anyway, I hop into the GTO and Zeke takes off, roaring toward the school.
“Now, aren’t you glad I forced you to go last night?” he says, grinning as he lights up a cigarette.
“Yeah.” I admit reluctantly, smiling. “I had a great time.”
“You and Casey looked pretty cozy.” he says.
“Please.” I say, rolling my eyes. “We just danced.”
“And made gooey eyes at each other.” Zeke says, nudging me. “You should’ve kissed him.”
I snatch the cigarette away from him, take a drag and then hand it back. “Shut up.” I say, blowing the smoke out of one corner of my mouth. “He’s still with Delilah, you know.”
“So?” he says as he almost takes a turn on two wheels. “You’re not afraid of her, are you?”
“Jesus fuck, Zeke, watch your driving.” I hiss, grabbing onto the handle above the door for dear life.
“Chill out.” he insists, grinning. “I can handle this baby.”
I roll my eyes again. “Whatever. And for your information, no, I am not afraid of Delilah.”
“Okay, so you’re afraid of Delilah.” Zeke says casually.
“I am not!” I say, way too stridently.
“Fuck, I’m afraid of Delilah.” Zeke responds. “Everyone with a soul is afraid of Delilah.”
I roll my eyes, sighing. There’s no pointng tng to Zeke. Although it sounds clichéd, he can read me like an open book. “Okay, fine, I admit defeat. You’ve got me. I’m afraid of Delilah.” I grumble. “So what?”
I pick at the torn leather seat upon which I’m sitting. “Besides, your logic is flawed.” I say. “If everyone with a soul is afraid of Delilah, then why is Casey with her?”
“Because every guy wants to fuck a cheerleader.” Zeke responds bluntly, over the whining roar of the GTO’s engine. “But Casey’s too decent to admit it’s just fucking.”
I make a horrified face. Oh god, oh no, that’s not what I want to think about.
Unfortunately my overactive imagination presents me with images of my sweet Casey in various positions with that slut. The images are very vivid and even include audio and oh my god, now I want to cry!
“Thank you so much, Zeke.” I hiss. “That just fucking makes my day.”
“You don’t want a guy who’s a virgin, Morgaine.” Zeke insists. “It’s brief, painful and messy. Let her break him in. You’ll reap the benefits, and save on shampoo.”
I blink, looking at him. “What the fuck does shampoo have to do with anything?” I ask.
Yeah, okay, so maybe Casey not being a virgin would be nice, but damn! Did it have to be DELILAH that broke him in?
“Aim.” Zeke says, then skids into the school parking lot.
“Oh.” I say, giggling.
I lick my lips. “Oh god, Zeke, what do I say to him when I see him? You know she’ll be with him. Jeez, does he even make it to the bathroom without her?”
Zeke smirks inscrutably as he screeches into a parking space.
“No one really looks at him anymore, you notice that?” he asks as he puts the car in park. “They look at his clothes, his girlfriend, but not at him. usedused to be invisible. Now he’s like the invisible man with those bandages he wrapped around himself. But people are seeing the bandages, not him.”
“I’ve always noticed him.” I say softly. “I’ve got a box in my room of drawings of him I’ve done over the years. He’s never been invisible to me, I just can’t seem to talk to him.”
I groan, running my fingers through my hair. “Why can I talk to you, Zeke?” I whine. “Why can’t it be as easy to talk to Casey as it is with you?”
“Cuz.” Zeke responds, his upper lip twitching. “Don’t say anything. Just look him in the eyes. People don’t do that, and it’s probably worse now that he ain’t hiding behind glasses all the time.”
“I liked the glasses.” I mutter, wrinkling my nose a bit. “Of course, his eyes are bluer without them.”
I take a deep breath. “Okay, so just look him ie eye eyes and don’t say a word. Sure, I can do that.”
I open the car door and get out, then groan. Three of Delilah’s cheerleaders are headed straight for us, these incredibly intense looks on their faces. I giggle. They look like they’re constipated or something.
“Morgana, just the person we were looking for.” Lindsay Stevens says coolly, crossing her arms over her chest.
Lindsay is Delilah’s co-captain. She thinks of herself as Delilah’s watchdog or shinghing.
I glance at Zeke, raising my eyebrows. Oh shit, had they been at the Reverb last night?
Zeke gets out of the car quickly, suddenly serious.
“Brooke, Rachel, how’s it going?” he asks.
“Hey Zeke.” Brooke says coyly, smirking at him.
Rachel nudges her in the ribs, glaring at her. “Brooke!” she hisses. “He is a delinquent!”
“Wow, pretty big word there, Rachel.” I say, smirking. “What exactly is that you want, Lindsay?”
“We saw you last night.” Lindsay says. “At the Reverb.”
“With Casey.” Rachel interjects.
“Newsflash, Casey is Delilah’s man.” Lindsay says. “Back off.”
Meanwhile Brooke just eyes Zeke, looking all sluttish.
Zeke looks sluttish right back.
“So she’s sharing with you girls, right?” he asks, grinning with just his mouth. “I mean, what’re friends for?”
I grin, looking at Zeke. How does he manage to do that? God, I’m envious of him.
Lindsay looks frazzled and I have to laugh.
“Shut up, Tyler!” she hisses. “This doesn’t involve you!”
She glares at me. “We’ll be watching you, Morgana.” she snaps. “Stay away from Casey.”
“Or what?” I say, grinning. “What will you do to me, Lindsay? What horrible punishment will you inflict on me?”
Lindsay seems to be at a loss for words and glances at Rachel and Brooke.
“Yeah, that’s what I thought.” I say. “It’s been a lovely chat, girls. We’ll have to do this again sometime.”
“Hey, if you guys fight, can you make sure it’s in mud or something cool?” Zeke asks, looking bored as he starts another smoke. He’s perfected the art of being a calculated jerk.
Lindsay makes a disgusted noise. “Pig.” she hisses before stalking off. Rachel quickly follows, but Brooke hangs back, staring adoringly at Zeke.
Lindsay seems to realize that Brooke isn’t following and turns back, shrieking at her. “Brooke!”
Brooke startles, blinks, and hurries after Lindsay and Rachel.
I shake my head, chuckling. “God, can you believe the nerve of that bitch?” I say, rolling my eyes. I nudge him, smirking. “Looks like you’ve got an admirer though.”
“She’s just seeing the attitude.” Zeke insists, then lights his cigarette and takes a deep drag. “I gotta wait a bit before I go inside. Otherwise I might be on time.”
“Oh no, we’d hate to see youn thn that slacker image.” I say, grinning. “I’ll see you later, man. Wish me luck with Casey, huh?”
Zeke, cigarette dangling from his mouth, gives me the Vulcan hand gesture. He obviously has been ‘bonding’ with Casey.
I shake my head, laughing, and sling my backpack over one shoulder. I head across the parking lot, heading toward the main entrance of the building.
I gasp and come to a complete standstill. Oh lord, there he is. He’s got his camera out and he’s snapping random pictures of students, probably for the yearbook. Delilah is nowhere in sight. Odd.
I simply stare at him. It probably sounds terribly clichéd or really mushy, but he is just so. . .gorgeous.
Somebody slams into me from behind and my backpack gets knocked off my shoulder, the contents spilling out all over the sidewalk.
“Fuck, watch where you’re going.” I hiss, bending down to pick up my stuff.
“Fuck you, bitch.” Gabe, one of the football players, says. “Don’t stop in the middle of traffic.”
I groan, rolling my eyes as he and his friends walk off, joking and laughing.
The next thing I know, Casey is crouched in front of me, helping me pick up my stuff. I look up, and our eyes meet. He smiles, keeping his mouth closed.
I smile back, feeling that familiar fluttering in my stomach. “Hi.” I manage to say.
I know, I know, Zeke told me to just look in his eyes and don’t say anything, but c’mon. I don’t want him to think I’m weird and just staring at him. Besides, ‘hi’ seems to be one thing I don’t have a problem saying to Casey.
And I am looking at his eyes. They’re so. . .blue. Soulful. I feel like I could get lost in those eyes.
His smile widens and his lips part.
“Hi.” he responds softly.
Okay, I’m feeling giddy. His smile, like the rest of him, is so beautiful. I frantically try to think of something else to say.
“I had fun last night.” I say. “It was. . .the Reverb is cool.”
I gather up my stuff, glance down a moment as I shove it all into my backpack and then look back up at Casey, making eye contact again.
And suddenly I see it. What Zeke and Stokely have been trying to tell me is there but I haven’t been listening. He’s. . .sad. Lonely. Fucking Delilah is nice, but he’s not happy. Not at all.
Wow. Mom was right. The eyes really are the window to a person’s soul.
“You can be yourself there.” Casey says, and the sadness intensifies. He hands me my stuff, snatches up his camera and flees to his first class.
I watch him go, stunned. Wow, Stokely was right. Delilah is draining his spirit away. Poor Casey. Has he ever had a chance to just be himself before?
“God, Casey, if you’re so unhappy, why do you stay with her?” I whisper.
I stand up, a determined look on my face. Somehow I am going to make the sadness in Casey’s eyes go away. I am going to woo him away from Delilah.
I look a little panicked. Fuck, I don’t even know where to start. Zeke, help!